Revelation 13: Worship is demanded, displayed, and enforced

The dragon's earthly war takes institutional form in two beasts. The first rises from the sea with features gathered from Daniel's empires and receives power, a throne, and authority from the dragon. A healed mortal wound produces amazement that becomes worship. The beast boasts, blasphemes, and wages war against the saints for a strictly limited forty-two months. A second beast looks lamb-like but speaks like the dragon, using signs, an animated image, threatened death, and economic exclusion to direct worship toward the first. The Book of Revelation makes allegiance the center of the chapter. The mark controls buying and selling, while the number 666 is tied to the beast's name and calls for wisdom rather than speculative certainty. The chapter presents counterfeit authority, counterfeit resurrection-like recovery, counterfeit signs, and coerced worship, all operating with power repeatedly described as given rather than ultimate.